Saadan en smule naese gnubberie er det rene guf for en koala! Vi hyggede os i en kort stund foer han faldt i sovn igen!
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Det er lige Marcus
Saa fik vi floejet vores foerste task. Dagen saa ikke lovende ud efter siste aftens solide regnvejr saa det hele blev udsat nogle timer og vi var ret sent oppe paa bjerget. Men efterhaanden blev dagen helt fin og vi kom i luften til en elapsed time tarsk, dvs. individuel tidstagning som i enkeltstart.
Det betoed desvaerre at vi alle sammen laa i svag termik i skybase og lurede paa hinanden og ingen ville flyve foerst. vi toeffede rundt der oppe i haelende paa hindanden og stressede over alle de skaerme der var som man skulle passe paa ikke at blive filtret ind i.
Turen var ikke paa andet ind 46 km men da vi forst tog os sammen og kom af sted havde vi allerede brugt det meste af tre timer paa det samme sted lige over starten og inden vi naaede halvvejs igennem tasken kom der et fint skylag ind og daekkede for solen og pludselig var dagen forandret fra langsom til narmest umulig.
Jeg er selv lige landet, som de fleste andre, her lidt i syv efter omkring fem timer, og nu skal det hele saa taelles sammen foer vi ved hvem der har vundet. men det var i hvert fald ikke en stor dag for Danmark. Louise landede bare en kilometer fra maal og David og jeg noget foer. Aev! Der var vist omkring 50 piloter i maal. -Foerst og fremmest folk som tog afsted noget foer os andre der hang noget i bremserne. Saa vi har lidt roede oere her til aften.
Men dagen holdt toer og det er da lovende for i morgen.
Saa er Scott kommet herned som medlem af dommerpanelet saa nu er der ikke laengere nogen der har ondt i ryggen:) Han har vaeret fire dage under vejs pga af al jeres sne derhjemme.. Ja det er lidt svaert at forestille sig for os her:-)
Og Davids familie er ogsaa dukket op saa vi er efterhaanden en hel lille dansker koloni.
Jeg er fulstaendig moerbanket efter dagens tur saa nu vil jeg se at faa noget mad og saa skulle en enkelt oel nok kunne slukke lyset til i morgen.
Glaedelig jul fra Marcus
Det betoed desvaerre at vi alle sammen laa i svag termik i skybase og lurede paa hinanden og ingen ville flyve foerst. vi toeffede rundt der oppe i haelende paa hindanden og stressede over alle de skaerme der var som man skulle passe paa ikke at blive filtret ind i.
Turen var ikke paa andet ind 46 km men da vi forst tog os sammen og kom af sted havde vi allerede brugt det meste af tre timer paa det samme sted lige over starten og inden vi naaede halvvejs igennem tasken kom der et fint skylag ind og daekkede for solen og pludselig var dagen forandret fra langsom til narmest umulig.
Jeg er selv lige landet, som de fleste andre, her lidt i syv efter omkring fem timer, og nu skal det hele saa taelles sammen foer vi ved hvem der har vundet. men det var i hvert fald ikke en stor dag for Danmark. Louise landede bare en kilometer fra maal og David og jeg noget foer. Aev! Der var vist omkring 50 piloter i maal. -Foerst og fremmest folk som tog afsted noget foer os andre der hang noget i bremserne. Saa vi har lidt roede oere her til aften.
Men dagen holdt toer og det er da lovende for i morgen.
Saa er Scott kommet herned som medlem af dommerpanelet saa nu er der ikke laengere nogen der har ondt i ryggen:) Han har vaeret fire dage under vejs pga af al jeres sne derhjemme.. Ja det er lidt svaert at forestille sig for os her:-)
Og Davids familie er ogsaa dukket op saa vi er efterhaanden en hel lille dansker koloni.
Jeg er fulstaendig moerbanket efter dagens tur saa nu vil jeg se at faa noget mad og saa skulle en enkelt oel nok kunne slukke lyset til i morgen.
Glaedelig jul fra Marcus
Klar til start i Manilla
David's maske er blevet lidt gammel. Mon han snart koeber en ny?Laese mere paa David's blog: http://davidworthington.spaces.live.com/blog/
Monday, February 26, 2007
Post from David
Paragliding World Championships in Manilla - Week 1
I am now sitting in the headquatrters of the 10th Paragliding World Championships in Manilla, Australia. Pernille, Dea & I flew to Sydney last Monday and I flew straight on to Tamworth and then Manilla the same day. Pernille & Dea stayed in Sydney with mum to get over the jet-lag.
When we arrived the XC Open competition was on and they had been getting great conditions for it. I was too jet-lagged to fly the first day but the conditions looked great from the bar of the Royal Hotel.
The rest of the Danish team Marcus & Louise were already here and we are all staying at the Post Office hotel in the middle of town. It is a bit warm at night and we have had a few problems getting light bulbs fitted in the rooms but otherwise it is an excellent place to stay.
On Tuesday Marcus & I flew to Bingara (89 kms) for a warm-up flight. We took our time (3.5 hours) but I really enjoyed getting in the air again. When I landed we met Andrew and Wendy from Killarney who had just arrived and were able to give us a lift straight back to Manilla. I haven't stopped meeting old friends who I haven't seen for years. It seems that everyone who has ever been paragliding in Manilla is here.
On Wednesday we flew west towards Narrabri. It started well with good clouds all the way. I was a little late getting started as I had been busy setting up my new impress harness. I had just about met up with Marcus near Taylors Plain when I heard that he had landed. I tried to keep going but landed on top of one of the small spurs running down from Mount Kaputar. Not a very smart place to land! It took me almost an hour to get down to a dirt road and with no retreive organized I was a bit concerned about getting home at a reasonable time. Fortunately a local farmer came by and gave me a lift to Narrabri where I was picked up by Dave from the Manilla camping ground, pretty lucky. Lousie also landed near Narrabri and got home quickly. Marcus got there late and ended up being picked up at about 10pm for a very late retrieve.
Thursday looked stormy so the first practice start was set as a local triangle. Marcus & I flew around for a while and then headed to Manilla. We saw some other pilots landing at the school so we joined them and discovered that we were part of the official school fly-in by the Australian team. All the kids were lined up waiting to be shown the paragliders so we soon became part of the show. The kids were very interested and had lots of questions. Hopefully there will be some future champions among them. Marcus was so impressed by their behaviour that he will now advocate school uniforms in Denmark!
I also got Craig Collings from the Aussie team to help me adjust my new harness. Thanks Craig!
Friday was another official practice day and conditions looked excellent. Lousie & I arrived at the hill a bit late to see Marcus, Ronny & Rolf (from Norway) climbing up to cloud base above us. Before we were ready to launch they were already off on there way north to Queensland. By the time we got ready large clouds had developed to the north and we were advised not too fly in that direction. Again a local triangle task was set which a lot of pilots completed. The final headwind leg into Manilla was hard and claimed a few pilots (like me) who didn't top up before the last turnpoint. I landed at the Manilla Tip which is normally a good trigger although I knew it wasn't working when I saw a wedge-tailed eagle land in a tree just in front of me.
At about 8pm we finally got an SMS from Marcus and yes they made it to Queensland, 230 kms and 7.5 hours. I have been dreaming about that sort of flight for years. I guess the lesson for me is that you should always get to start as early as possible.
Saturday was the opening ceremony day so after we had finished all the team briefings I had time to for a short fight to Manilla Showground. The parade was good but we nearly expired in the heat. Then we saw an unconventional airshow with paramotors, gyrocopter, gliders, powered hang gliders, aerobatics and then finally an F18 that kept sneaking down the valley and then scaring the daylights out of us when it popped up over the bridge at the showground. The opening show was also an opportunity for me to catch up with more old friends who had come up to Manilla to work as volunteers for the competition. I am amazed at how many people are involved here.
I also got elected to the safety committee for the competititon which means that I will have to send reports on conditions during the task back to the safety director Bob Smith. With the recent events involving thunderstorms here I will no doubt be kept busy.
Sunday was the first competition and there were lots of clouds early in the day so it looked like it would be a local task. I have never seen so many cars on the way up to Mount Borah. There was even a traffic jam due to problems with small 2-wheel drive cars trying to get up through the very dusty new road. Unfortunately by the time all the organization had arrived up the hill the clouds had begun to overdevelop and the task was cancelled before the window opened leaving a lot of frustrated pilots on the hill all dressed up with no place to go but back down the road.
We were sitting back at the hotel at about 6 pm when a wall of water came down the valley towards Manilla. Within minutes the streets were flooded and there were waterfalls of water coming down of the corrugated iron roof of the hotel. Only paragliding competitions can bring this sort of rain to drought affected areas.
Monday was cancelled at briefing due the amount of clouds and expected rain and storms. The forecast doesn't look very good forthe next week. Ironic after the excellent conditions that have been experienced here the last two weeks. My sister Joanne and her husband Paul arrived on Sunday night so we spent the day fishing in the Namoi River. We saw lots of fish but they didn't like our bait.
Pernille, Dea & Mum arrived last night so we have a little tent village set up at the River Gums camp ground now. We have already had visits from possums, kangaroo rats and lots of birds.
So that was a quick summary of the first week. Of course there are lots of other stories which I have already forgotten but I will try and write a bit more often in the future.
I am now sitting in the headquatrters of the 10th Paragliding World Championships in Manilla, Australia. Pernille, Dea & I flew to Sydney last Monday and I flew straight on to Tamworth and then Manilla the same day. Pernille & Dea stayed in Sydney with mum to get over the jet-lag.
When we arrived the XC Open competition was on and they had been getting great conditions for it. I was too jet-lagged to fly the first day but the conditions looked great from the bar of the Royal Hotel.
The rest of the Danish team Marcus & Louise were already here and we are all staying at the Post Office hotel in the middle of town. It is a bit warm at night and we have had a few problems getting light bulbs fitted in the rooms but otherwise it is an excellent place to stay.
On Tuesday Marcus & I flew to Bingara (89 kms) for a warm-up flight. We took our time (3.5 hours) but I really enjoyed getting in the air again. When I landed we met Andrew and Wendy from Killarney who had just arrived and were able to give us a lift straight back to Manilla. I haven't stopped meeting old friends who I haven't seen for years. It seems that everyone who has ever been paragliding in Manilla is here.
On Wednesday we flew west towards Narrabri. It started well with good clouds all the way. I was a little late getting started as I had been busy setting up my new impress harness. I had just about met up with Marcus near Taylors Plain when I heard that he had landed. I tried to keep going but landed on top of one of the small spurs running down from Mount Kaputar. Not a very smart place to land! It took me almost an hour to get down to a dirt road and with no retreive organized I was a bit concerned about getting home at a reasonable time. Fortunately a local farmer came by and gave me a lift to Narrabri where I was picked up by Dave from the Manilla camping ground, pretty lucky. Lousie also landed near Narrabri and got home quickly. Marcus got there late and ended up being picked up at about 10pm for a very late retrieve.
Thursday looked stormy so the first practice start was set as a local triangle. Marcus & I flew around for a while and then headed to Manilla. We saw some other pilots landing at the school so we joined them and discovered that we were part of the official school fly-in by the Australian team. All the kids were lined up waiting to be shown the paragliders so we soon became part of the show. The kids were very interested and had lots of questions. Hopefully there will be some future champions among them. Marcus was so impressed by their behaviour that he will now advocate school uniforms in Denmark!
I also got Craig Collings from the Aussie team to help me adjust my new harness. Thanks Craig!
Friday was another official practice day and conditions looked excellent. Lousie & I arrived at the hill a bit late to see Marcus, Ronny & Rolf (from Norway) climbing up to cloud base above us. Before we were ready to launch they were already off on there way north to Queensland. By the time we got ready large clouds had developed to the north and we were advised not too fly in that direction. Again a local triangle task was set which a lot of pilots completed. The final headwind leg into Manilla was hard and claimed a few pilots (like me) who didn't top up before the last turnpoint. I landed at the Manilla Tip which is normally a good trigger although I knew it wasn't working when I saw a wedge-tailed eagle land in a tree just in front of me.
At about 8pm we finally got an SMS from Marcus and yes they made it to Queensland, 230 kms and 7.5 hours. I have been dreaming about that sort of flight for years. I guess the lesson for me is that you should always get to start as early as possible.
Saturday was the opening ceremony day so after we had finished all the team briefings I had time to for a short fight to Manilla Showground. The parade was good but we nearly expired in the heat. Then we saw an unconventional airshow with paramotors, gyrocopter, gliders, powered hang gliders, aerobatics and then finally an F18 that kept sneaking down the valley and then scaring the daylights out of us when it popped up over the bridge at the showground. The opening show was also an opportunity for me to catch up with more old friends who had come up to Manilla to work as volunteers for the competition. I am amazed at how many people are involved here.
I also got elected to the safety committee for the competititon which means that I will have to send reports on conditions during the task back to the safety director Bob Smith. With the recent events involving thunderstorms here I will no doubt be kept busy.
Sunday was the first competition and there were lots of clouds early in the day so it looked like it would be a local task. I have never seen so many cars on the way up to Mount Borah. There was even a traffic jam due to problems with small 2-wheel drive cars trying to get up through the very dusty new road. Unfortunately by the time all the organization had arrived up the hill the clouds had begun to overdevelop and the task was cancelled before the window opened leaving a lot of frustrated pilots on the hill all dressed up with no place to go but back down the road.
We were sitting back at the hotel at about 6 pm when a wall of water came down the valley towards Manilla. Within minutes the streets were flooded and there were waterfalls of water coming down of the corrugated iron roof of the hotel. Only paragliding competitions can bring this sort of rain to drought affected areas.
Monday was cancelled at briefing due the amount of clouds and expected rain and storms. The forecast doesn't look very good forthe next week. Ironic after the excellent conditions that have been experienced here the last two weeks. My sister Joanne and her husband Paul arrived on Sunday night so we spent the day fishing in the Namoi River. We saw lots of fish but they didn't like our bait.
Pernille, Dea & Mum arrived last night so we have a little tent village set up at the River Gums camp ground now. We have already had visits from possums, kangaroo rats and lots of birds.
So that was a quick summary of the first week. Of course there are lots of other stories which I have already forgotten but I will try and write a bit more often in the future.
Nyt fra downunder - VM i paragliding - Manilla, Australien
Det er ikke just her det sner i forhold til de hjemlige breddegrader, men til gengaeld har vi hver dag naesten 40 graders varme. Det danske hold; Marcus Malmqvist, David Wortington og Louise Crandal ankom en uge inden konkurrencen skulle begynde og vejret har vaeret intet mindre end fantastisk. Faktisk er det den bedste flyvning de fleste har oplevet i flere aar. Gode skyer, let vind og god kraftig termik.
Mit vario kan ikke maale stig over 10 meter i sekundet, saa jeg ved ikke hvor meget over det var, men over var det i hvert fald en dag. Cirka en fjerdel af hele VM-feltet flyver den nye Boomerang 5 og der var naermest panikstemning i ugen op til konkurrencen. Skaermene sad fast i tolden i Sydney, saa de kom fem dage senere end beregnet. Jeg maatte laane en Sigma 5 af organisationen indtil vidunderet fandt sin vej til Manilla. Jeg fik desuden en helt ny Gin-liggesele og valgte at tage alt nyt i brug i et hug paa endnu en fantastisk flyvedag. Skaermen er lige saa let at starte som en skoleskaerm, saa jeg kom fint i luften og var fra foerste faerd udelt begejstret. Forandringen fra en gammel, brugt Sigma 5 var (heldigvis) markant.
Jeg havde vel vaeret i luften i fire eller fem minutter, da jeg ramlede ind i en dustdevil. Varioet gik amok og skaermen forsvandt ud af syne. Da det hele saa lidt for uoverskueligt ud, valgte jeg at stalle skaermen for ikke at komme ud i noget snavs. Det gik fint, men da den skulle flyve igen ramlede jeg aabenbart ind i samme dustdevil og maatte gentage successen. Endnu et stall og alt var godt. Stakkels Gin Seok Song stod paa starten og var ved at faa hjertestop, men mine uendeligt mange stalls i andre skaerme gjorde at alt gik efter bogen. Bagefter floej jeg en skoen tur paa 90 kilometer og kan kun konstatere, at de nye skaerme selv med utroligt hoeje sideforhold er utroligt sikre og forudsigelige.
Paa den officielle traeningsdag floej vi en opgave paa 45 kilometer med stig op til 9,6 meter i sekundet uden at det var turbulent. Marcus var samme dag noget asocial og floej tur sammen med nordmaendene - og David og jeg var slet ikke misundelige. Marcus floej 228 kilometer og endte i Queensland taet forfulgt af et kaempe uvejr. Syv en halv time i luften uden at tisse og uden at blive traet. En rigtig herretur sammen med Rolf og Ronny fra Norge.
Alt i alt en perfekt traeningsuge, men traditionen tro aendrer selv aar gamle vejrsystemer karakter, naar der er en stor konkurrence. I gaar, soendag, have vi foerste konkurrencedag og for foerste gang i to uger var der ikke flyvevejr. Eller rettere sagt - vejret var godt i to-tre timer, men ikke laenge nok til at organisationen fik slaebt hele feltet paa 150 piloter op paa starten og i luften. Dagens opgave blev aflyst og de naeste dage ser ikke alt for lyse ud, men vi haaber, venter og nyder varmen og selskabet af 150 skoenne mennesker fra hele verden saa laenge.
Louise
Mit vario kan ikke maale stig over 10 meter i sekundet, saa jeg ved ikke hvor meget over det var, men over var det i hvert fald en dag. Cirka en fjerdel af hele VM-feltet flyver den nye Boomerang 5 og der var naermest panikstemning i ugen op til konkurrencen. Skaermene sad fast i tolden i Sydney, saa de kom fem dage senere end beregnet. Jeg maatte laane en Sigma 5 af organisationen indtil vidunderet fandt sin vej til Manilla. Jeg fik desuden en helt ny Gin-liggesele og valgte at tage alt nyt i brug i et hug paa endnu en fantastisk flyvedag. Skaermen er lige saa let at starte som en skoleskaerm, saa jeg kom fint i luften og var fra foerste faerd udelt begejstret. Forandringen fra en gammel, brugt Sigma 5 var (heldigvis) markant.
Jeg havde vel vaeret i luften i fire eller fem minutter, da jeg ramlede ind i en dustdevil. Varioet gik amok og skaermen forsvandt ud af syne. Da det hele saa lidt for uoverskueligt ud, valgte jeg at stalle skaermen for ikke at komme ud i noget snavs. Det gik fint, men da den skulle flyve igen ramlede jeg aabenbart ind i samme dustdevil og maatte gentage successen. Endnu et stall og alt var godt. Stakkels Gin Seok Song stod paa starten og var ved at faa hjertestop, men mine uendeligt mange stalls i andre skaerme gjorde at alt gik efter bogen. Bagefter floej jeg en skoen tur paa 90 kilometer og kan kun konstatere, at de nye skaerme selv med utroligt hoeje sideforhold er utroligt sikre og forudsigelige.
Paa den officielle traeningsdag floej vi en opgave paa 45 kilometer med stig op til 9,6 meter i sekundet uden at det var turbulent. Marcus var samme dag noget asocial og floej tur sammen med nordmaendene - og David og jeg var slet ikke misundelige. Marcus floej 228 kilometer og endte i Queensland taet forfulgt af et kaempe uvejr. Syv en halv time i luften uden at tisse og uden at blive traet. En rigtig herretur sammen med Rolf og Ronny fra Norge.
Alt i alt en perfekt traeningsuge, men traditionen tro aendrer selv aar gamle vejrsystemer karakter, naar der er en stor konkurrence. I gaar, soendag, have vi foerste konkurrencedag og for foerste gang i to uger var der ikke flyvevejr. Eller rettere sagt - vejret var godt i to-tre timer, men ikke laenge nok til at organisationen fik slaebt hele feltet paa 150 piloter op paa starten og i luften. Dagens opgave blev aflyst og de naeste dage ser ikke alt for lyse ud, men vi haaber, venter og nyder varmen og selskabet af 150 skoenne mennesker fra hele verden saa laenge.
Louise
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
